Published: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 4:12 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 7:49 p.m.

Teacher Jeremy Brock works recently with advanced placement students at New Smyrna Beach high school in New Smyrna Beach.

News-Journal/David Tucker

"I didn't think I was cut out for those kind of classes," he said.

But at the end of his sophomore year, Torres, who attends Matanzas High School, wanted to challenge himself — and prove to prospective colleges he's a serious student, not just an athlete. He approached his English teacher, Joann Nahirny, about signing up for her AP English Language and Composition class.

"She told me it's going to be hard — it's not going to be like normal English," Torres said.

He took the plunge, joining nearly 4,000 other students in Volusia and Flagler counties who took at least one AP exam last spring, three times the number who took an exam a decade ago. The rapid growth of the AP program is especially apparent in Flagler County, where the number of students taking AP tests has grown almost tenfold since 2002.

AP courses and exams are designed by the College Board, the nonprofit organization that also administers the SAT college entrance exams. Nationwide, the graduating class of 2012 completed nearly three million AP exams during their high school careers.

Students who take AP exams, which are scored from one to five, can earn college credit if they perform well. Many colleges award credit to students who score a three or better, though some colleges require students to earn fours or fives and a few don't accept AP credits at all.

Nahirny's class, the most popular AP subject area, is intended to mirror a first-year college composition course. On a recent afternoon, Nahirny led the class through a rhetorical analysis of Florence Kelley's speech about poor working conditions for children to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1905. She gave students tips for making their essays stand out: Avoid cliches, and grab a sleepy reader's attention by starting with a creative anecdote.

The state of Florida highly values AP and other accelerated programs, like International Baccalaureate and dual-enrollment, where students take classes on college campuses. The state doled out more than $73 million to districts where students passed AP and IB exams last year, including more than $1.2 million to Volusia and $407,564 to Flagler. Teachers are rewarded with $50 bonuses for each student who passes these exams. Success on AP and IB exams also factors into each high school's state grade.

But taking the exams, which run $89 apiece, isn't cheap. Local schools pick up the tab for every student enrolled in AP courses who wants to attempt the end-of-year exam. Flagler and Volusia counties spent more than $572,000 last year on AP exams alone.

While schools funnel more students into these rigorous programs, including those who traditionally wouldn't sign up for college prep coursework, the number of students passing these exams isn't keeping pace. Flagler and Volusia students took 6,432 exams last spring and 58 percent didn't score well enough to earn college credit.

"It's a double-edged sword because you want to include as many students as you can, but by the same token, you don't want to lower your pass rate, either," Nahirny said.

A few classrooms perform head and shoulders above others: All 20 of Janet Binn's World History students at Matanzas passed the exam last year, but that's an exceptional year. Her 18 Macroeconomics and Government students didn't fare as well, with fewer than half passing those exams. Those classes, Binn said, are filled mainly with seniors who load up on AP classes and tend to lose focus in the spring. She adds that high exam scores aren't the be-all and end-all.

"Even if they don't pass the test, the experience is valuable for them because they're taking a class at a much higher level than they would be," she said.

Alicia Parker, once an AP Biology teacher, urged her students to think of their class as "a journey."

"Yes, there is a test at the end, but it's more about the journey," said Parker, now assistant director of accountability for Volusia schools. "It's about becoming an independent student and becoming college-ready."

RESULTS A 'MIXED BAG'

Like many educators who say AP classes offer immeasurable benefits for their students, the College Board touts the AP program as a way to improve students' chances in challenging courses after they enter college. AP students had better four-year graduation rates than students who did not take AP courses, and students who scored well on the tests were more likely to graduate, according to a 2008 study sponsored by the College Board. Students who took AP courses and exams also earned more credits and better grade-point averages than others during their first year of college.

Many proponents also say expanding AP programs can improve achievement for all, including underprivileged and minority students. Well-intentioned districts beef up AP offerings, said Chris Janson of the University of North Florida, as a way to provide more equitable opportunities to students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

"If the people who are supporting expanded access are using it as a lever to give kids who have been historically excluded a more rigorous course, that's fantastic," said Janson, an assistant professor of school counseling and educational leadership. "If the goal is to use AP classes to drive up (a school's) sense of academic achievement, that's fantastic, too."

Some districts, including Volusia and Flagler, pay the fees to ensure that the cost of the exam won't be a deterrent for low-income students, and Allene Dupont, director of K-12 curriculum for Volusia schools, said she's "a little passionate" about that.

"I think part of our charge as a public school system is to provide a free education for all students so we really should not have the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in education," she said.

But that means local schools spend thousands of dollars annually on exam fees for students who won't earn college credit. Four in 10 test-takers don't pass the AP English Language exam nationally, and Torres was one of them. But his hard work wasn't for naught. A series of "poor decisions" during Torres' freshman year caused his grades to dip below the 2.0 grade-point average required to play sports at Matanzas. But his experience in the AP English Language class, he said, gave him the confidence to enroll in honors English, economics, and government classes this year.

Looking ahead to college, Torres said he feels more prepared to tackle tough courses. The 18-year-old, who is the captain of Matanzas' lacrosse team, is weighing offers from several schools now.

"It showed me a different perspective — that it takes a lot of hard work and determination to achieve goals," Torres said.

Another student, Frederick Yentis, also was new to the AP program when he signed up for Nahirny's class as a junior last year.

"At first I was like, 'How am I going to survive in this class?' " he said. "I didn't know how I was going to make it through."

The 17-year-old's vocabulary, reading and writing skills improved, and at the end of the year he earned a three on the AP test.

"It's a class I think everyone should be able to take," he said.

But driving more students into these difficult classes, Janson said, can produce a "mixed bag" of results. Schools must also provide adequate support for students so they can be successful. A "helicopter drop" of students who are not prepared for college-level courses, he said, doesn't do them any favors.

There are other drawbacks: Some elite schools are dropping AP courses altogether, Janson said, because staff members feel it creates an overly-competitive environment where students are more focused on racking up AP credits than engaging in meaningful learning experiences.

Additionally, AP courses may not be as rigorous as their counterparts on college campuses, according to a 2006 study of students taking introductory biology, chemistry and physics courses. Many of the supposed benefits of taking AP courses are actually the result of students' academic abilities and experiences prior to or separate from the AP courses. Scoring a 3 on the AP doesn't appear to warrant college credit and scoring a 1 or 2 "offered little evidence" of any benefit to students beyond taking a regular or honors course, according to the study published in Science Educator journal.

"Advanced Placement has become one of the most highly respected 'brand names' in secondary/post-secondary education," researchers Philip Sadler and Robert Tai wrote in the report. "However, our study has found indications that the AP program, while certainly of value to many students, may lack some of the evidence necessary to support its claim of academic rigor equal to that of introductory college and university courses in science."

'I PASSED!'

To pinpoint students who are likely to do well in an AP class, Flagler schools rely heavily on the PSAT test, which students take during their sophomore year. But the district practices an "open enrollment" policy and the classes are open to anybody who thinks they're up to the challenge. Matanzas sends letters to students who are good candidates for Nahirny's class, urging them to sign up, and she doesn't turn anyone away.

"If you really want to take the class and you really want to do the work, I will take you because, frankly, there are some surprises sometimes," she said.

She remembers a young man from two years ago who "definitely did not fit the mold for somebody who would do well in an AP class," and passed the exam at the end of the year. Another boy benefited from the class in an unexpected way.

"He didn't pass the AP exam, but he didn't get any (disciplinary) referrals for the first time in his life," Nahirny said.

Not everyone earns college credit at the end of the course, but many of Nahirny's student do. Her pass rate soared about five years ago, after she started grading hundreds of AP tests each summer for students from other schools.

Yentis was among 53 of Nahirny's students who earned a three or better on the English Language exam last year. If you say he jumped for joy when he received his score last summer, Nahirny's students would tell you that's a cliche. But it's not hyperbole.